Many people have firearms for recreational use such as target shooting. Others collect firearms. Moreover, an ever-increasing number of people are keeping guns, such as automatic pistols and revolvers, in their homes and offices for protection. No matter what the purpose for the gun, the gun owner must have a safe storage box to protect the gun against unauthorized access and accidental discharge or misuse.
The presence of a gun in the home or office is a perpetual concern for the owner. Newspaper accounts and word of mouth have recounted the numerous accidents and tragedies associated with the accidental discharge of firearms each year. A large number of serious injuries and fatalities occur to young children. The gun owner also fears arriving at home or work to find an intruder waiting with the owner's own gun. Thus, unauthorized access even by adults is a concern.
In contrast to the owner's need for a gun box latching mechanism which prevents unauthorized and accidental opening is the need for immediate access to the gun box and quick and easy opening of the latching mechanism once access is obtained. When the owner suddenly realizes that the gun is needed because an intruder has entered the home or office, the gun box must be immediately accessible--then easily opened. Thus, although the cardinal requirement in preventing children's accidents would be to keep the gun box out of sight and out of reach of the child, that requirement may thwart the owner's purpose in storing the gun: immediate accessibility. A gun kept unloaded in a closet would cost the owner precious time in a crisis situation.
There are several types of existing devices which have been used to carry and store dangerous firearms. Most existing gun boxes require a key to lock and unlock the box. Such boxes depend totally upon the availability of the key, however, which could become lost or misplaced. The key must be kept in another location, separate from the gun box lock. Consequently, the owner could lose access to the gun because an intruder blocks entry to the room having the key and could lose time searching for the key in darkness even if the room is not blocked. Moreover, the key could be used by a child who discovers its location. Every parent is aware of the ingenuity of children who, after observing a person use a key to open and close a box, could easily follow the example and gain access to the dangerous contents within.
The use of combination locks, another alternative, presents other problems. For example, the owner must recall the combination or have such unlocking information available. The owner could store the combination information in a safe place then fail to remember its location when needed. In addition, the owner must be adept in manipulating the combination lock. All of these factors could pose a serious hindrance in situations of haste or emergency when the gun is needed quickly.
The use of locks, therefore, has not proven entirely satisfactory. But any known type of unlocked gun box, no matter where located in the home or office, could be discovered and reached by a curious child or unauthorized adult with a normal amount of ingenuity. It is also unrealistic to expect the owner to remember to store the box properly at all times. Accordingly, a latching mechanism is needed which permits easy access by the parent or authorized adult yet makes access by a small child or unauthorized adult highly unlikely.
A firearm safety box is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,307,755, issued to Lentz, which provides a safety rod inserted into the barrel of the gun. The gun must be empty before it can be stored and the box itself can only accommodate and lock the firearm for which it is intended.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,768,021, issued to Ferraro, discloses a safe, mounted to another structure, for a loaded hand gun. The mounted safe is not portable. The release mechanism which opens the safe is activated by a numerical, alphabetical, or fingerprint identification electronic touch pad. Thus, a number or alphabet sequence must be remembered or, if a fingerprint is used, access is limited to a small number of people. Moreover, access requires time consuming entries on the pad and the entries cannot be done in the dark.
Other existing gun boxes avoid locks but require a maze-type or other complicated manipulation of a mechanism to open the box. Some of these devices could easily confuse a responsible owner attempting to open the box--particularly when in an agitated state of mind and in a great hurry. Moreover, children have been known to demonstrate how to open boxes of that type to an adult unable to do so.
The prior attempts to develop a gun box latching mechanism which allows easy access by authorized adults yet prevents unauthorized or accidental access have not been completely satisfactory. In part, the problem is that existing latching mechanisms have not been widely accepted--either because adults find them inconvenient or because children can open them. The need for a latching mechanism more effective than those presently available is apparent.
To overcome the shortcomings of existing gun box latching mechanisms, a new latching mechanism is provided. Although locks have been provided in the past, a key or combination lock may be included to provide a further degree of safety integrity against the unauthorized use by another. An object of the present invention is to provide a safety latching mechanism which is child resistant and which protects against unauthorized opening by adults.
A related object is to avoid exposing unnecessarily the fact that the box of the present invention encloses a weapon. Another object is to provide a box which is economical to manufacture, is portable, and has an attractive appearance. Still another object is to offer substantially instantaneous access, but only to the owner, to the contents of the box even in total darkness. The prevention of inadvertent opening when, for example, the box is dropped, by providing a sturdy and reliable latching mechanism, is another object.
An additional object of the present invention is to provide a box which will store safely one or more firearms, including a variety of firearms. A further object is to accommodate both loaded and unloaded guns.